


never wanted nothing more

by nerdytardis



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Other, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 10:39:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12455864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdytardis/pseuds/nerdytardis
Summary: Davenport was supposed to be back before the storm, but as the waves got worse, there still wasn't any sign of him.Merle makes a few calls, literally yells at the ocean, and gets quite a surprise along the way.





	never wanted nothing more

**Author's Note:**

> i listened to all of taz in like a month and was totally Ruined (thanks griffin), then wrote this instead of doing homework because i can't seem to think about anything besides these short dads
> 
> title is a kenny chesney song, of course, because i honestly have the same music taste as merle  
> this is unbeta'd, so sorry for any typos

Waves lapped at the beach, spraying water into the heavy, grey sky.  Thunder rolled and two moored boats knocked into each other, the wood creaking in protest. 

Bottlenose Cove was mostly safe from the storm, the natural harbor keeping the worst of the waves from the town nestled along the beach. 

But beyond that natural barrier, the ocean foamed and rolled in thundering waves of grey and white. 

Merle was standing on that rocky outcropping, scanning the horizon as best he could with the salt spraying in his face and the waves obscuring everything in chaos.

Bringing his stone of farspeech up to his mouth one more time, Merle had to shout against the roar of the waves as he said, “Listen to me Davenport, if you don’t answer me right now, I’m going to levitate my ass out there just so I yell at you properly!”

The stone continued to glow dully in his hand, his knuckles white from clutching it so tightly, but there was still no response. 

“Come on Dav.” Merle said, squinting against the salt spray as he searched again for any sign of the ship. 

Davenport was supposed to be back this afternoon, but called this morning to say he would be late. 

“I’ll be back before the storm, I promise.” he had said, “I just have one more thing to take care of.”

And Merle had believed him, cracked some joke and said goodbye like it was any other conversation.  Thinking back on it, he didn’t think he had even said “I love you.”

“Pan dammit Davenport, I don’t need anymore sad backstory!”  Merle shouted, shaking his wooden fist at the unrelenting grey ocean.   

His stone flashed in his hand, and he nearly hit himself in the face as he brought it up to mouth again, but before he could say anything, he heard Mavis. 

“Dad?” She said, “You need to come back.”

“I still can’t see him.”

“I know.” Mavis’s voice was strained, like she was trying to keep it steady, “But you need to think about your own safety too.”

_There are no more cycles, this is it; if he dies now, there’s no coming back; if—_

“Dad.” Mavis was obviously upset, a fact that managed to keep Merle from spiraling into his own thoughts, “The last thing he would want is for you to get yourself killed.”

Merle scanned the ocean again, and again, but still couldn’t see any sign of the ship. 

“Please Dad.  There’s nothing more we can do but wait.” Mavis’s voice was getting harder and harder to hear over the waves, “We—we need you.”

A weight settled in Merle’s gut, a resigned guilt.  He needed to go, to look after his kids—Mookie never liked storms—and his town.  Staring out at the unrelenting chaos, he took one more deep breath of salty air and sent up a few words to Pan, an old phrase coming back to him after many years. 

 _This isn’t goodbye_. 

It was a mantra they used to use, all of them, during their century of running, whenever they lost someone.  It didn’t matter that this was the last cycle—it still wasn’t goodbye. 

Merle kept reminding himself of this fact as he sat in the closet of his beach house and tried to distract Mookie with some dumb jokes and simple cantrips. 

And he kept reminding himself of it when the sky finally cleared, the sea settled into its usual rhythm, and the people of Bottlenose Cove emerged from their houses. 

There was sand everywhere, some minor damage, and a few boats that would need repainting, but otherwise, the town was fine.  Shaken a little, but fine all the same.

Merle, on the other hand, felt simply tired.  He’d been awake all night, the stress making it feel like even longer, and a weariness had settled into his bones.

Standing on the beach, he looked out yet again at the ocean, the ever-changing waves that he loved so much, and still didn’t see any sign of a boat, not even a broken mast floating listlessly toward them. 

For the first time in more than a century, Merle didn’t know if he’d ever see Davenport again. 

Sand crunched, and Mavis walked up next to him.  “Maybe he made it to a different cove?” she said, looking out over the waves too, “Or decided to stay where he was instead of risking it?”

“Maybe.” Merle said.  After a beat, he realized that Mavis was biting her lip, worming away at it nervously.

“Hey.” He said, turning to her and wrapping her in a big hug, “I’m just a nervous old coot, there’s no need to get upset.” Merle held her at arm’s length and smiled, “He’s the best sailor I ever met, I’m sure he’s fine out there somewhere.”

Merle waited until Mavis managed a nod and a small smile.  “Okay.”

“That’s my girl!” he said, and walked her back to the house.  Trying to listen to his own words, Merle dived into his duties to distract himself. 

But the tense fear still wove tighter and tighter in the back of his head as the hours passed.  Even as his town put itself back in working order, Merle felt his optimism slipping away. 

When he couldn’t take it anymore, he stepped away to his—their—room and pulled out his stone of farspeech.   He’d tried to call Davenport when he could during the day, but now as night fell once more, he decided to try a new, and somehow so much worse, strategy. 

After a moment, the stone glowed brighter and a familiar voice could be heard. “I telling you for the last time, there are no dogs allowed at the wedding Ma—”

“It’s me.”

“Oh Merle!” Taako said, “What a surprise.  I just assumed you dropped off the face of the Earth, seeing as you never pick up any of our calls.”

“Yeah yeah,” Merle grumbled, not wanting to admit how much Taako’s words were actually bothering him today, “Is Kravitz there?”

Taako made a surprised noise.  “Interesting.”  Merle could practically hear the gears turning in his friend’s head, “Why?  Is this about the arm?”

“I’ve never blamed him for the arm okay?” Merle said, rushing through his words, “Is he with you right now?”

Taako was silent for a moment, and Merle could just see him, his perfect eyebrows coming together in confusion.  “Yeah.” He finally said, “Do you want to talk to him?”

“Well—”

“Krav get your tight ass in here!”

“No Taako, just ask him—” Merle suddenly found that he couldn’t admit to even the possibility of it, the words sticking in his throat.  “Has he been away, yknow, working recently?”

When Taako spoke next, his voice was lower, more serious, “What happened?”

“It’s not—well—Davenport’s pulled a real Me and hasn’t been answering my calls, and there was this big storm last night, and he still hasn’t shown up—”

“Okay, okay.  I hear you.” Taako said, still a little bossy, even as he tried to be comforting, “Take a deep breath before you pass out old man.”

Merle did as he was told and tried to think of a joke to crack, but was beat to it by Kravitz’s muffled voice coming over the stone, “What is it darling?”

“Hey, babe,” Taako’s voice got quieter as he turned to his fiancé, “You would tell me if someone important…passed, right?”

“Um?  Like a Duke?”

“No, babe.  Fuck them, obviously.” Taako scoffed, before his voice got that uncommon serious tone, the one he only used when he really cared.  “I’m talking about my family. You wouldn’t hide one of their deaths from me, right?  Because that would be a super asshole move.”

After Taako asked his question, there was a moment of dead air and Merle forced himself not to read into it too much, even as his wooden arm clenched into a fist at his side. 

“Of course not.” Kravitz said, his voice getting louder as he came closer to Taako, “Why is this coming up all of a sudden?”

“So no ones dead?”

“Taako—”

Somewhere downstairs, there was a shout.  Startled, Merle shot up to his feet, and listened for a second, trying to figure out if it was Mookie up to no good or something more serious. 

Another shout, still muted through the floorboards, but definitely belonging to Mavis.  His stone of farspeech forgotten, he went for the door, feeling years of instinct starting to kick in. 

When Merle rounded the curve in the stairs, he froze at the sight in his kitchen. 

Mavis had picked Davenport off the ground in a bear hug, as Mookie jumped back and forth next to them, anxiously waiting his own turn. 

A weight that had been tense in Merle’s shoulders and coiled in his chest all day finally released and he let out a long breath. 

“’Bout time you showed up.” He called from the stairs, getting everyone’s attention. 

Mavis smiled and finally set Davenport down.  Then Mookie hugged him from behind and he barely managed to keep his footing.  Merle laughed out loud, his life fitting itself back into place. 

“ _Merle?_ ” Taako shouted, and Merle realized he still had his stone of farspeech in his hand. 

“Dav’s fine Taako, I’ll see you later.”

“ _Duh_ , that’s what I was trying to say.  If you had been listen—”

Merle ended the call and put the stone on a table at the end of the stairs. 

Putting a hand on his hip, he tried to sound mad as he asked, “What took you so long?”

Davenport looked over at Merle, an apology evident in his drawn brows and small smile.  “The time got away from me.”  He looked back down at Mookie, who was now just lying on the floor, even though his arms were still wrapped around Davenport’s legs, “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“That’s fine, what’d you get me?” Mookie shouted up at him, and Merle had to smile as Davenport reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a new model ship. 

Mookie leapt up and grabbed it, already running through the house and making engine noises.  They watched as he climbed over the kitchen table and jumped to the couch in the corner without skipping a beat.

When Merle turned back to Davenport with a grin, he found the gnome already watching him.  Without a word, he walked over and wrapped his husband in his arms.  Davenport didn’t wait a second before his own hands did the same, his fingers digging into Merle’s back. 

As they swayed slightly in the hug, Davenport murmured against Merle’s shoulder, relief heavy in his voice.  “I should have listened to you for once.”

Merle pulled back so he could press a kiss to the side of his mouth and chuckled, “You’re damn right about that.”

“Gross!” Mookie yelled from across the room, and a giggle bubbled out of Mavis, even as she tried to stifle it with her hand.  Still smiling, she turned to Mookie and began corralling him outside. 

“Let’s play with the ship out here.” She said.  After one last smile over her shoulder, she followed her brother out the back door, leaving Merle alone with Davenport, who he turned to with a sigh. 

“You better have a good, actual excuse for making me call up the Taako and Death household.” He said, making sure the humor never left his voice.

Davenport’s eyes went wide and serious anyway.  “You called Kravitz?”

“Well, you weren’t picking up.”

“My stone of farspeech fell overboard in the storm,” Davenport said, looking down at his palms, “I’m sorry—”

“Don’t apologize.”  The image of Davenport, hanging on for his life in the middle of a rolling, steel-colored sea flashed before Merle’s eyes and he took both of his husband’s hands in his.  “You made it.  That’s what matters.”

Davenport squeezed their clasped hands, and Merle noticed for the first time, the rope burn along his cheek.  Reaching up to cup his jaw, Merle ran a featherlike touch along it.  Davenport still winced a little, and Merle pulled his hand away.

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” He said, taking a step back and muttering a little to cast a healing spell.  The rope burn faded away, along with some old sunburn and a cut along the back of Davenport’s hand.  But judging from the way he swayed a little at the healing, there had been quite a bit more Merle hadn’t been able to see. 

Stepping forward quickly, Merle put his hands on Davenport’s shoulders to steady him.  “Woah there,” he said, his voice soft, “Don’t faint on me now.”

“I’m fine.” Davenport said, trying to wave him off, “I’m just tired.”  As he said it, the gnome leaned into Merle’s touch. 

“I’m sure you are.” Merle murmured, pressing a kiss to his forehead, “Let’s get you to bed.”

Davenport made it up the stairs on his own, and laid down on the bed with a big sigh.  After watching the rise and fall of his chest for a moment, Merle came over and started pulling his boots off.  Davenport started to sit up and protest that he could do that, but Merle waved him off. 

“You’ve done enough.  Just rest.”  Davenport did as he was told and laid back down.  Once the boots had been put away in the closet, Merle helped him peel off his salt-stained jacket. 

When this was done, Merle tossed off his own flip-flops and joined his husband.  Davenport immediately curled into his side and hummed tiredly.

“It was a bad one.” He said simply, and Merle knew that was all he needed to say for now.  Rubbing a hand up and down Davenport’s back, he could feel the tense muscles begin to relax. 

They lay in silence for a while, their breaths and the sounds of the sea surrounding them in a comforting blanket of familiar noise.  Through the window, they could hear the distant laughter of Mavis and Mookie in the yard, and the creak of wooden boats settling into their mooring for the evening. 

Eventually, Davenport shifted a little and reached into his pocket. 

“This is for you.” He said, holding out a small wooden box.  Merle took it and flipped open the latch. 

A little flash of metal fell out and rested on his chest.  Picking it up, he examined the band, gasping a little when he realized what it was.

“My old wedding ring?  I gave this up in Wonderland,” he said, looking to Davenport.  “Is this what you delayed coming home for?”

Davenport was sitting up on his elbow now, watching him.  “You said it was the last happy memory of your family, so I,” he shrugged a little and looked away, “I wanted you to have it again.”

Merle looked back to the ring again, amazed at the sight of something that he used to think about so often, but had somehow almost forgotten.  After a moment, he put it back in the box and closed the lid.  When he looked back to Davenport, the other man’s brows were drawn in confused. 

Merle leaned up to kiss his husband, softly and gratefully.  “Thank you.” He said, “I thought I’d never see it again.”

“But…?”

The sounds of the ocean filled the room again as Merle put the box on the bedside table and turned back to Davenport.  “But it’s just a memory.” He brought his hand up to Davenport’s jaw, “And it’s certainly not worth losing you over.”  Davenport leaned into the touch.  “That ring reminds me of something happy, but you know what else makes me happy?  You.  This.” 

Blush creeped up into Davenport’s ears; he’d never been good at taking compliments, even as Merle peppered him in them for decades.  He smiled and kissed Merle again, a silent thank you, before he laid back down, resting his head on Merle’s chest.

“Back when I thought that ring was the only happy memory of my family, I couldn’t remember how big my family actually was.”  He held up his hand, showing off the silver band that Lucretia had given back after the Hunger was defeated.  They both watched how the dying light reflected off the dull metal. 

“Thank you though.” He said, laying a soft kiss to Davenport’s brow, “It’s an incredible gesture, and I’m glad to have it again.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”  Merle said, as the soft crash of waves against the coast and the warmth of the body curled against his side started to lull him into sleep.  He really was tired, he realized, the weariness in his bones pulling him down into a much needed rest. 

Next to him, Davenport began snoring a little, the soft whistle of breath joining the other sounds, and Merle smiled. 

Calm rolled over them, like water, and he fell asleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!


End file.
